Zoro sheathed his swords and suddenly looked much more relaxed. "Since this is a friendly match, we'll stop before anyone gets hurt. I lost this round."
Kuina frowned slightly. "You're admitting defeat just like that? That's not like you..."
Zoro shrugged. "I've never admitted defeat before. But this time, I will."
Kuina looked at Zoro with mixed feelings.
Usopp rushed over and kicked Zoro in the back.
Zoro snapped, "What the hell was that for?"
Usopp was furious too. "You could've kept fighting! Why did you give up? Losing the first match puts us at a huge disadvantage!"
"It's fine, Usopp," Luffy said with a grin. "You've still got us. That was only the first match. We'll win the next ones."
Tears streamed down Usopp's cheeks. "Easy for you to say. It won't be that simple..."
Lin Mo had no patience for their chatter. "The first match is over. Let's start the second. Who's up?"
Luffy cracked his knuckles. "Me!"
"No," Sanji said, appearing beside him. "Luffy, you're our secret weapon. We can't bring you out this early."
Sanji looked over their group, then said, "Brook, you're up first."
"Me? I'm first?" Brook sounded nervous. "But I'm not ready. Facing such a powerful opponent makes my heart feel like it's about to leap out of my chest—though I don't have a heart! Yohohoho!"
Brook's opponent was Kaku.
In this world, Brook had joined Luffy's crew after they visited Water 7, so he didn't know Kaku.
Zoro had fought Kaku before and knew how strong he was.
"Brook, don't underestimate him," Zoro warned. "He's strong, and he's a Devil Fruit User. He won't be easy to deal with."
"It'll be fine." Brook held his cane sword and spoke lightly. "If I can't beat him, I'll admit defeat. Yohohoho!"
A bead of